Grey, Mona Elizabeth Clara
Grey, Mona Elizabeth Clara (1910–2009), nurse, was born 24 September 1910 in Westridge, Rawalpindi, in the Punjab, then in India, the daughter of Albert Edward Grey and Grace Grey (née Dassing or Dashing). At the time of her birth her father was working as a guard on the North Western…...
Grimshaw, Beatrice Ethel
Grimshaw, Beatrice Ethel (1870–1953), author and traveller, was born 3 February 1870 at Cloona House, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim, fourth child among two sons and four daughters of Nicholas William Grimshaw of Belfast, former director of the Ulster Spinning Company turned wine-and-oil merchant…...
Hannelly, Dympna
Hannelly, Dympna (1922–2014), missionary nun, was born Eitne Hannelly on 4 December 1922 to Patrick Hannelly and Annie Hannelly (née Egan) of Tarmon, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon. Known as ‘Enna’ to her family, she had a twin brother Padraig, two other brothers and two sisters. Padraig…...
Heath, (Sophie) Mary (‘Lady Heath’) (née Peirce-Evans; other married name Eliott-Lynn)
Heath, (Sophie) Mary (‘Lady Heath’) (née Peirce-Evans; other married name Eliott-Lynn) (1896–1939), athlete and aviator, was born Sophie Catherine Theresa Mary Peirce-Evans on 17 November 1896 in Knockaderry, Co. Limerick, the only child of Jackie Peirce-Evans and his wife and former…...
Hedderman, Bridget
Hedderman, Bridget (1872–1943), district nurse, was born on 17 January 1872, in the family home at Querrin, just outside Kilkee, Co. Clare, the eldest of four daughters of Manus and Mary Hedderman (née Nash). Manus Hedderman worked a variety of jobs, including fisherman, boatman and…...
Jellett, Eva Josephine
Jellett, Eva Josephine (1868–1958), doctor, was born 6 January 1868 at 40 Wellington Row, Dublin, youngest daughter of John Hewitt Jellett (qv), clergyman, mathematician, and provost of TCD…...
Kavanagh, Lady Harriet Margaret
Kavanagh, Lady Harriet Margaret (1800–85), artist, traveller, and antiquarian, was second daughter among three sons and four daughters of Richard Le Poer Trench (qv), later 2nd earl of Clancarty, and Henrietta Margaret Le Poer Trench…...
Kearney, Mother Kevin
Kearney, Mother Kevin (1875–1957), pioneer Ugandan missionary sister and foundress of Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa, was born 28 April 1875 in Knockenrahan, Arklow, Co. Wicklow, the third and youngest daughter of Michael Kearney, a farmer, and Teresa Kearney (née…...
Le Blond, Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Alice Frances (née Hawkins-Whitshed; other married names Burnaby, Main)
Le Blond, Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Alice Frances (née Hawkins-Whitshed; other married names Burnaby, Main) (1860–1934), mountaineer, author and photographer, was born 26 June 1860 in Dublin, the only child of Sir St Vincent Bentinck Hawkins-Whitshed, 3rd (and last) baronet of Killincarrick…...
Leeson, Margaret (‘Peg’)
Leeson, Margaret (‘Peg’) (1727–97), prostitute, brothel-keeper, and memoirist, was born Margaret Plunket at Killough, Co. Westmeath, one of eight surviving children of Matthew Plunket, a wealthy farmer, and his wife, whose maiden name was O'Reilly. Most of what is known about Margaret…...
Longfield, Cynthia Evelyn
Longfield, Cynthia Evelyn (1896–1991), entomologist and traveller, was born 16 August 1896 at 20 Pont St., Belgravia, London, youngest of three daughters of Lt-col. Mountifort John Courtenay Longfield and his wife Alice Elizabeth (née Mason) of Castle Mary, Cloyne, Co. Cork, the…...
Lynn, Kathleen
Lynn, Kathleen (1874–1955), medical practitioner and political activist, was born 28 January 1874 in Mullafarry, near Killala, Co. Mayo, second oldest of three daughters and one son of Robert Lynn, Church of Ireland clergyman, and Catherine Lynn (née Wynne) of Drumcliffe, Co. Sligo.…...
MacCarthy, Ethna Mary
MacCarthy, Ethna Mary (1903–59), poet and paediatrician, was born 2 April 1903 in Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, a granddaughter of the Young Ireland poet Denis Florence MacCarthy (qv), and daughter of Brendan MacCarthy (d. 1934),…...
MacManus, Emily Elvira Primrose
MacManus, Emily Elvira Primrose (1886–1978), matron of Guy's Hospital, London, was born 18 April 1886 in Wandsworth, south London, the daughter of Leonard Strong MacManus (d. 1911), a doctor, and his wife Julia Emily (née Boyd). Leonard MacManus was from a catholic gentry family with an…...
Martin, Máire (Marie, Mary) Helena (‘Mother Mary’)
Martin, Máire (Marie, Mary) Helena (‘Mother Mary’) (1892–1975), founder of the Medical Missionaries of Mary, was born 25 April 1892 at Glencar, Marlborough Road, Glenageary, Co. Dublin, eldest among twelve children of Thomas Patrick Martin, partner in T. & C. Martin, a…...
McKenna, Ellen (Sister Mary Augustine)
McKenna, Ellen (Sister Mary Augustine) (1819–83), Sister of Mercy, American civil war nurse and teacher, was born 24 December 1819 in Traugh, Willville, Co. Monaghan, eldest among three daughters and two sons of James and Mary Anne McKenna. Ellen was educated at home, then at Miss…...
Moclair (Horne), Delia
Moclair (Horne), Delia (1895–1971), obstetrician, was born Bridget Angela on 8 January 1895 at John Street, Cashel, Co. Tipperary, the home of her parents Patrick and Margaret (née Carew) Moclair. She was the youngest of seven children. Patrick Moclair had endured a farm eviction,…...
Moore, Georgina (Sister Mary Clare)
Moore, Georgina (Sister Mary Clare) (1814–74), Sister of Mercy, foundress, Crimean war nurse, and teacher, was born 20 March 1814 in the Church of Ireland parish of St Ann's, Dublin, youngest among three children (one son and two daughters) of George and Catherine Moore, both…...
Morris, Eileen Frances (Sr Mary Francis)
Morris, Eileen Frances (Sr Mary Francis) (1919–93), Medical Missionary of Mary, and her twin sister, Peggy, were born 25 September 1919 at Powerstown, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, to Thomas A. Morris, merchant, and Margaret Morris (née O'Neill). They had a brother and a sister. After primary…...
Mulrooney (Carbonneau), Belinda
Mulrooney (Carbonneau), Belinda (1872–1967), frontier entrepreneur, was born on 16 May 1872 (though her official birth certificate stated 10 June) in her maternal grandparents' 21-acre farm near Carns, Co. Sligo, the first child of one son and four daughters of John Mulrooney from Carra…...
Nicholson, Asenath
Nicholson, Asenath (1792–1855), traveller and social reformer, was born 24 February 1792, youngest child and only daughter among three children of Michael Hatch (c.1747–1830), farmer, and his wife, Martha (maiden name unknown; 1745–1837), in Chelsea, Vermont, USA. Educated at…...
O'Brien, Mary Lucy
O'Brien, Mary Lucy (1923–2006), missionary sister and doctor in Africa, was born Nora Veronica O'Brien on 17 August 1923 in Ballinderry, in the parish of Cummer, near Tuam, Co. Galway, the second eldest in a family of four girls and four boys of Michael O'Brien and his wife Nora (née…...
O'Donohue, Maura
O'Donohue, Maura (1933–2015), missionary doctor and public health campaigner, was born on 2 March 1933 at Likeen, her family home in Kilfenora, Co. Clare, the second of four children (two girls and two boys) of Andrew O’Donohue, a farmer, and his wife Kate (née O’Brien). Mary Brigid, as…...
Place, Valerie
Place, Valerie (1969–93), nurse and overseas aid worker, was born 24 March 1969 at 20 St Brendan's Crescent, Walkinstown, Dublin, one of four daughters and three sons of Patrick Place, coachbuilder, of that address, and Margaret Place (née Byrne). Educated at St Paul's secondary school…...
Price, Dorothy Stopford-
Price, Dorothy Stopford- (1890–1954), paediatrician, was born 9 September 1890 in Roebuck, Dublin, daughter of Jemmett Stopford, engineer, and Constance Stopford, whose father, Evory Kennedy, was master of the Rotunda Lying-In Hospital. Jemmett Stopford died from typhoid fever in 1902…...